WPL 2024: As a franchise, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 was special for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The RCB, under the leadership of Smriti Mandhana, made history by winning the Women’s Premier League 2024, marking a historic achievement for the franchise.
The win will undoubtedly boost the confidence of the men’s team as well. After RCB defeated Delhi Capitals in the final, Virat Kohli could be seen celebrating the win over a video call. Virat Kohli has consistently been a prominent figure in the RCB ranks since the inception of the IPL in 2008 and his happiness was evident.
The men’s side of the Royal Challengers Bangalore gave a guard of honor to their women’s team after they won the Women’s Premier League title at the RCB Unbox event at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Mandhana was leading the women’s team and had the WPL 2024 trophy in her hand.
The Smriti Mandhana-led RCB defeated Delhi Capitals to lift the WPL trophy in only their second year, while their male counterparts, led by the charismatic Virat Kohli for nearly a decade before he stepped down, haven’t had success in the 16 years of IPL.
However, RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana feels it’s not right for people to undermine Virat Kohli’s achievements for the Bengaluru franchise in the wake of her side’s Women’s Premier League title triumph recently.
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Guard of Honour for our WPL Champions at Johnnie Walker presents RCB Unbox powered by @Kotak_Life and @Duroflex_world 🫡👏#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #WPL2024 pic.twitter.com/ikwL5Mx0E1
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) March 20, 2024
“The title is one thing, but what he (Kohli) has achieved for India is remarkable. So, I don’t think that comparison is right in terms of where my career is and what he has already achieved,” RCB skipper Mandhana told the media on Tuesday.
“The reason why I do not like the comparison is that what he has achieved is great; he has been an inspirational person. A title does not define a lot of things; we all respect him and I feel like the respect has to be right up there for Virat. So, there is nothing different from me as well,” – Mandhana further added.
Both Mandhana and Kohli wear No. 18 jerseys and the left-handed batter said drawing comparison between the two based on that was unwarranted.
“I would not term it as an 18 comparison. The jersey number is just a personal choice; my birth date is 18th and I have 18 on my back… it does not define how he plays or (how) I play my cricket. He’s been an inspiration to us in a lot of aspects, so I would not say title should define anything,” the Indian vice-captain said.
Mandhana believed that the men’s cricketers have consistently excelled in competitive cricket, but an IPL title had eluded them.
“I think, to be fair, the men’s team has also played good cricket in the last 16 years; it is not like they have not played well. I don’t think the comparison is right. RCB is a franchise; let’s treat the men’s and women’s teams separately because we don’t want to be compared.
They are good at what they do. We are good at what we do,” Smriti Mandhana stated.
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